TIME TO GET YOUR SHARDS TOGETHER?
RETREAT WITH LISL DENNIS
DO YOU NEED GREATER CLARITY AND MOTIVATION AROUND AN ONGOING PROJECT OR PROCESS? WONDERING WHAT'S NEXT? STRUGGLING WITH YOUR RESPONSE TO THE WORLD WE LIVE IN? SEARCHING FOR THE THREAD OF YOUR NARRATIVE — ALL THOSE FORMATIVE STORIES SCATTERED AND FORGOTTEN THROUGHOUT THE FIELD OF MEMORY? LIKE SHARDS FROM YOUR ORIGINAL VESSEL, THESE BITS AND PIECES OFTEN ENCODE PAST CONNECTIONS,  EARLY INSPIRATIONAL ANECDOTES AND NATIVE CAPACITY. BY UNEARTHING THE STORYSHARDS OF YOUR LIFE, YOU CAN RE-FORM
THEM INTO WHOLE VESSELS OF CREATIVITY AND CAPACITY FOR
THE JOURNEY FORWARD.

LISL'S STORY
FOR SURE, I NEEDED TO GET MY SHARDS TOGETHER AFTER QUITE A QUANDARY AS TO WHAT MY ORIGINAL CALLING MIGHT BE. EVENTUALLY, I RECOGNIZED THAT, AS A FREELANCE TRAVEL AND DECORATIVE ARTS PHOTOGRAPHER,  EVERY PICTURE IN MY FILES ENCODES A NARRATIVE, BECOMING THE STORYSHARDS OF MY OWN LIFE. WITH A CAREER IN WORLDWIDE IMAGE MAKING, THERE ARE MANY TALES TO TELL, ESPECIALLY OF RITUALS, CEREMONIES, AND PILGRIMAGES IN FABLED PLACES LIKE: TIBET, BALI, BHUTAN, MALI, AND NEW GUINEA. THESE CORE STORIES ARE COMMON METAPHORS FOR MANY OF US, I REALIZED, REGARDLESS OF OUR LIFE JOURNEY.

SO I DUG DEEPER INTO THIS IMAGERY TO EXCAVATE SHARDS OF MEANING AND CONTENT THAT WOULD RESONATE FOR OTHERS. FROM THIS ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG EMERGED STORYSHARDS: RE-FORM THE VESSEL OF YOUR LIFE.

WHY COME?
PEOPLE ASK, ESPECIALLY THOSE WHO HAVE DONE LOTS OF PERSONAL WORK: WHY COME TO STORYSHARDS? "I'VE GOT MY SHARDS TOGETHER!" THEY AFFIRM. WELL, IT'S BEEN MY PERSONAL EXPERIENCE OVER MANY YEARS, THAT, EVEN THOUGH I'M ALREADY IN THE FLOW OF FORMING A NEW PROJECT, WHEN I ALLOW MYSELF TO PAUSE AND PARTAKE OF A SPIRITUALLY AND CREATIVITY BASED RETREAT, I BECOME AN EVEN MORE OPEN AND EXPANSIVE VESSEL FOR INSPIRATION AND CONTENT THAT INFORMS MY THOUGHT FOR THE PROCESS OR PROJECT AT HAND.

WHAT'S DIFFERENT?
IT'S THE FORMAT AND DRAMATIC CONTEXT. STORYSHARDS IS AN UNIQUE AND EVOCATIVE VISUAL VESSEL — A RICHLY-TEXTURED MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION WITH HIGH PRODUCTION VALUES — NOT A POWERPOINT. IN THE PROGRAM, LISL TAKES YOU TO FAR-AWAY PLACES, INTO IMAGINAL REALMS, AND MUSICAL SPHERES: CONTEXTS THAT INVITE REFLECTION, AND ALLOW YOUR MEMORIES AND PERSONAL STORIES TO REVEAL THEMSELVES. THEN YOU RETURN HOME TO YOUR OWN NARRATIVES IN SKILLFULLY FACILITATED STORYCIRCLES THROUGHOUT THE RETREAT THAT PROVIDE A SAFE CONTAINER FOR MUTUALITY, HONESTY, AND TRUST.

INTENTION
IN THIS UNIQUE RETREAT, WORLD TRAVELING VISUAL ARTIST AND FACILITATOR LISL DENNIS SERVES AS YOUR FIELD GUIDE. LISL'S INTENTION IS TO POINT THE TRAIL ON AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL DIG INTO MEMORY, IMAGINATION, AND PERSONAL STORY. YOU ARE ENCOURAGED TO MARK YOUR OWN PATH BY DOING SOME MAPPING, TRACKING, AND SPADEWORK ALONG THE WAY.

THE EXPLORATION IS ABOUT CONTEXTUALIZING AND INTEGRATING YOUR OWN ASPIRATIONS, ANECDOTES, AND NARRATIVES INTO WHOLE CONTAINERS OF CAPACITY AND CREATIVITY. STORYSHARDS WILL HELP YOU CLARIFY MOTIVATION, AND INSPIRE YOU TO STAY ON THE PATH OF YOUR ORIGINAL CALLING. THE RETREAT WILL HELP YOU GET A HANDLE ON THE VESSEL OF YOUR LIFE IN CONFIDENT SERVICE TO FAMILY, FRIENDS, COMMUNITY.

NOW IS THE TIME TO:

RE-FORM YOUR STORY FROM THE LIGHT SIDE
MARK YOUR JOURNEY FROM ROBUSTNESS AND CREATIVITY, TO BREAKPOINT, AND ONWARD
TO RESTORATION OF INSPIRATION AND RESILIENCY
LOOK DEEP INTO THE VESSEL OF YOUR OWN STORY
ABIDE IN THE SAFE CONTAINER OF STORY CIRCLES
HONOR YOUR PAST AND SET INTENTION TO STORY FORWARD
RESTORE YOUR ORIGINAL CAPACITY, CREATIVITY AND CALLING
RELEASE YOUR STORY: BREATHE THROUGH IT, AND LET IT GO

RETREATS
STORYSHARDS CAN BE TAILORED AS A DAY-LONG OR WEEKEND RETREAT, AND INTEGRATED INTO A LONGER COLLABORATION WITH OTHER FACILITATORS: SEE THE INFORMATION PAGE. STORYSHARDS IS A VIBRANT INTERACTIVE MUSIC VIDEO. AS VAN MORRISON SINGS:TAKE ME BACK, TAKE ME WAY, WAY BACK. BY REWINDING MEMORY, WE REVISIT: THE GIFTS OF OUR ANCESTORS; OUR PRIMAL INSPIRATION IN EARLY CHILDHOOD; THE SEASONS OF ROBUST CREATIVITY; EGO-ALTERING BREAKDOWN; DREAMTIME; ASPECTS OF SHADOW; LYING FALLOW; AND OUR RETURN TO RESILIENCY, CREATIVITY, AND CLARITY OF PURPOSE.

NOT ALL ABOUT LISL DENNIS, STORYSHARDS PARTICIPANTS ENTER INTO STORYCIRCLES IN RESPONSE TO THE STATES AND STAGES OF THEIR LIVES. MORNING MEDITATION
AND MOVEMENT PRACTICE
ARE OPTIONAL, ACCORDINGLY.

SHORT STORYSHARDS
AS AN INSPIRATIONAL SHORT FORM,
STORYSHARDS — THE DIG IS A ONE-HOUR MULTIMEDIA PRESENTATION. TO LEARN MORE,
GO TO SS-THE DIG.

CODA

LISL DENNIS' ROLE AS A FIELD GUIDE IS TO: BREAK TRAIL AND KEEP THEM SAFE. HER FACILITATION IS NONAUTHORITARIAN, CREATING AN ATMOSPHERE OF TRUST AND MUTUALITY. THE PROGRAM RESPECTS PARTICIPANTS OF ALL FAITHS AND BELIEF SYSTEMS. FOR THOSE CONCERED, STORYSHARDS DOES NOT GET MIRED IN THE EMOTIONAL, AND ENCOURAGES LUCID REFLECTION.

TESTIMONIALS
LISL DEMONSTRATES IT ALL IN HER PHOTOGRAPHY: LIGHT, OBSERVATION, INTIMACY, EXPECTATION, FORMLESSNESS, AND 'GURUOSITY'.

THANK YOU FOR GRACING OUR COMMUNITY AND STUDIO WTH YOUR COURAGE AND CANDID SPIRIT. STORYSHARDS WAS INCREDIBLY TIMELY AND A TRULY HEALING SPACE
WE ALL SHARED.

I HAD BEEN RUNNING AROUND FOR A LONG TIME WITH UNTIED SHOELACES. THE CIRCLE LOVINGLY TIED
MY SHOES BACK UP.

OUR STORY-VESSELS BREAK.
WE HOLD OUR BREATH TOO LONG.
WITH TIME, WE RE-FORM AND
RE-INSPIRE TO STORY-FORWARD.
                      — LISL DENNIS